Idyllic private island with 10-bedroom mansion off Connecticut sells for almost $29.6 million

An idyllic private island off the coast of Connecticut sold for about $29.6 million on Monday, falling about $5 million short of the asking price.

Rogers Island is one of the main landmarks on the Long Island Sound, according to New York Times Real Estate.

This 7.5-hectare oasis is located off the coast of Branford, Connecticut and 120 kilometres from New York City.

The island features a 1217-square-metre mansion that has 10 bedrooms and five bathrooms as well an art studio, tennis court and putting green.

It also has three beaches and a green house, according to the listing.

The listing agent for the island, Joe Piscitelli of Coldwell Bank told Mansion Global the island was “the Commander in Chief of the Long Island Sound,” as it sits above the rest of the Thimbles archipelago.

It was renamed as Yon Comis Island after it was purchased and developed in 1902 by Captain John Jay Phelps, a financier and yachtsman from New Jersey. He is famous for sailing around the world via the Suez Canal and Cape of Good Hope, and lived on the island until he died in 1948.

The island has changed hands three times before the current owners, Christine and Edmund Stoecklein, known as “island collectors”, bought it in 2003 for about $30.7 million.

Mr Piscitelli said the island is “one-of-a-kind” and has been meticulously maintained and preserved” over the years. He said the family who bought the island island wish to remain anonymous.

The couple, who own other islands in the Thimbles archipelago, listed the property in late June for about $34.4 million.